Targeted as sex workers? Questions linger for families of slain women

April 13, 2014

Updated April 14, 2014 3:35 p.m.

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A portrait of victim Martha Anaya, left, is displayed on a table as her daughter Melody, 13, right, and mother, Herlinda Salcedo, look at a computer that they used to try to find her in Santa Ana. Anaya, a sex worker, is alleged to have been slain by a two men who are under arrest. Anaya's family was heavily using social media in their efforts to discover her fate. EUGENE GARCIA, STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

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A portrait of victim Martha Anaya, left, is displayed on a table as her mother, Herlinda Salcedo, cries while looking at a computer that she used to try to find her. EUGENE GARCIA, STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

A portrait of victim Martha Anaya, left, is displayed on a table as her daughter Melody, 13, right, and mother, Herlinda Salcedo, look at a computer that they used to try to find her in Santa Ana. Anaya, a sex worker, is alleged to have been slain by a two men who are under arrest. Anaya's family was heavily using social media in their efforts to discover her fate. EUGENE GARCIA, STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

SANTA ANA – The afternoon visit by Santa Ana police officers only reinforced the uneasy feeling Herlinda Salcedo woke up to Saturday, on the five-month anniversary of her 28-year-old daughter’s disappearance.

“When I saw that they were coming with serious faces and when they told me to sit down ... I felt this strong pain,” said Salcedo, 48, from her Santa Ana home Sunday.

“They didn’t find her how I wanted, but now I have a body that I can say, ‘That’s my daughter and she’s here,’ ” she said.

Until officers told Salcedo her second-eldest child, Martha Anaya, had been killed, Salcedo held out hope of seeing her alive.

Anaya was among four women in Orange County who authorities say were slain by what police are calling two serial killers who were taken into custody by Anaheim detectives Friday evening. The arrests also turned two other women like Anaya, who also had been missing since last year, into victims of foul play.

The men targeted women with ties to prostitution or escort services, according to police, and investigators suspect there are more victims yet to be identified both in and out of California.

Anaheim detectives began working alongside Santa Ana police when Estepp’s naked body was found March 14 on a conveyor belt at a recycling plant in Anaheim.

Detectives developed leads that led them to Cano first, and subsequently to Gordon, authorities said.

The missing women’s relatives and sex worker advocates held hopeful vigils for months.

“This was not the news we wanted,” said Tish Leon, a Santa Ana resident who advocated and organized candlelight vigils for the women. “I was just really hopeful they’d be found alive.”

Since law enforcement officials confirmed the arrests of Cano and Gordon, some relatives have found some relief, she said, but questions linger: How were the women killed? Have their bodies been found? How many other victims are there?

CHEERFUL PERSON

The family of Anaya, who was reported missing Nov. 12, gathered at Salcedo’s home Sunday and told stories of a woman they said was full of life.

“She was very cheerful,” said Salcedo, breaking down in tears. “That’s how she should be remembered.”

Anaya grew up in Santa Ana and attended Century High School. Salcedo described her as a responsible mother who always made sure her 5-year-old daughter made it to school on time. Anaya’s 13-year-old daughter, Melody, said her mother was her best friend, whom she would often gossip with. For fun, Anaya enjoyed dancing and going to Disneyland.

“I’d be able to tell her anything. We’d joke around as if we were sisters or best friends,” said Melody Anaya. “She’s funny, caring, amazing and beautiful.”

It wasn’t until Anaya’s disappearance that Salcedo learned of her daughter’s ties to prostitution.

“I went to the police chief and told them it didn’t matter. If they were painting my daughter as something I was unaware of, they should have understood that she was a human being, that she was a daughter, my daughter, and that I wanted to find her,” Salcedo said.

Anaya’s disappearance led Salcedo to rough parts of town like Lyon and First streets – where prostitution and crime are commonplace – and she distributed fliers in her quest to find her daughter.

FAMILIES FRUSTRATED

While police say they investigated the cases of the missing women without regard to their background, the women’s relatives, sex workers and their advocates expressed frustration about the way the women are viewed.

Some family and friends remain concerned that the women’s ties to the sex trade may have reduced the interest of investigators when the women were still believed to be missing.

Cpl. Anthony Bertagna of the Santa Ana Police Department said that while he understands the families’ frustrations and concerns, he disagrees with that assessment.

Santa Ana Police Chief Carlos Rojas began meeting with the victim’s families after three women were reported missing from the area, and detectives also tried to provide weekly updates, Bertagna said. Three detectives were assigned to the case.

“That was their case, and it’s been a priority for (Rojas) since he became aware of it,” he said. “I think the detectives worked very hard.”

Although the women’s background in the sex industry was relevant for investigators, Anaheim police Lt. Bob Dunn said it did not affect the priority given to the investigation.

“There wasn’t a lack of movement in the investigation because of their background or choices they made in their life,” he said.

Police decided not to reveal all details of the case to families until a news conference scheduled for Monday afternoon because some of the details could damage investigative leads if they became public, Dunn said.

NO LINKS FOR MONTHS

For months, police officials said they found no connection between the missing women. With no bodies located, investigators continued to be unaware that the missing persons cases were homicide victims.

The revelation of two suspected serial killers has left the victims’ friends and family shaken.

“That they would kill them just because they can, it shows how cruel this world is,” said Leon, the advocate for the missing women. “It’s opened a whole new world for me.”

Several questions remain unanswered, she said.

“A lot of people would say ‘they’re prostitutes, they’re drug addicts’ – but they’re women,” Leon said. “I don’t know how (police) will get the truth,” Leon said, “but they need to get the truth.”

SEX WORKERS DISADVANTAGED?

Sex workers say they feel societal stigma against their line of work, which they say puts them at a disadvantage with law enforcement.

“Society kind of marginalizes and dehumanizes sex workers. They think no one is going to listen to them because they feel what they do is criminal,” said a longtime Orange County escort Sunday, who declined to be identified.

“There’s a part of society that really believes that they kind of have it coming to them. People really view the sex industry as that’s the risk you take. People are so callous about it,” she said.

Cano and Gordon are expected to be arraigned this week, each on four counts of murder. The two suspects don’t yet appear to have attorneys and have not yet publicly commented on the allegations against them.

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